NJCH announces latest Action Grant awards

(Trenton, NJ) – The New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH) recently awarded $226,420 in Action Grant funding to fourteen organizations. Action Grants help organizations implement a wide array of humanities-based projects, including public programs, exhibitions, installations, tours, and discussion groups.

Public humanities programming allows individuals to share in the exploration of history, values, culture, and beliefs. NJCH supports and acts as a resource for cultural and service-oriented nonprofit partners as they bring public humanities experiences to the citizens of New Jersey, harnessing the power of the humanities to strengthen communities. The most competitive grant applications proposed a bold vision for a new or existing program that balances strong humanities content with deep audience engagement.

Grants were awarded to:
• Bongiorno Productions, in conjunction with Renaissance Newark Foundation, ($20,000) to explore the past, present and future of intergenerational poverty in Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, through a documentary.
• Camden County College ($14,160) to examine the impact and lasting legacy of 1968, a year of intense social and political events and movements.
• Hamilton Partnership for Paterson ($20,000) to increase awareness, through community involvement, of Paterson’s historical role in global trade and contemporary cultural influence.
• Kidsbridge Tolerance Center ($17,910) to educate non-native communities in New Jersey with a greater understanding of the indigenous experience, both past and present.
• McCarter Theatre Center ($15,940) to commission plays written by emerging playwrights for the ongoing research project “Migration: People and Cultures across Borders.”
• Morven Museum & Garden ($18,000) to re-interpret and re-install its permanent history exhibition, highlighting the diverse people who have lived and worked at Morven from the 18th century through the early 1980s.
• Newark Public Library ($18,000) to host a summer poetry workshop for teens and young adults, resulting in a published anthology of the work of the poet participants.
• Passaic County Department of Cultural and Historical Affairs ($17,000) to develop a more inclusive exhibition and subsequent programming that highlights the experiences of enslaved and indentured persons at the Dey Mansion in Wayne.
• People & Stories / Gente y Cuentos ($17,140) to bring six literature and reading discussion programs to vulnerable and underserved populations at Fort Dix Correctional Institution, Puerto Rican Association for Human Development, Rescue Mission, UIH Family Partners, Elm Ct., and St. James Village.
• Perkins Center for the Arts ($17,520) to continue to support the Tastefully South Jersey exhibition and affiliated community events and classes.
• Rutgers Camden, Writers House ($8,140) to deepen connections through meaningful engagement with veterans and active military on campus and beyond through the “Letters Home” project.
• Sankofa Collaborative, in conjunction with New Jersey Historical Society, ($16,370) to continue to host in-depth workshops and develop online resources for schools and cultural institutions to help them examine and address difficult topics in African American history.
• Stonybrook-Millstone Watershed Association ($10,000) to further engagement with community members for the “Kwel’ Hoy” project,” a multiyear traveling program of The Natural History Museum and Lummi Nation that explores concepts of history, truth, science, and environment through exhibitions and events.
• William Trent House Association ($16,240) to expand and deepen the interpretation of slavery in the Trent House through tours, exhibits, and programs based on new research and community feedback.

“The NJCH Grant program is designed to support the experimentation and implementation of public humanities programming,” said Director of Grants and Programs Gigi Naglak. “Action Grants enable organizations to bring their planning efforts to life. Each of the fourteen grant recipients proposed audience-focused projects that will ultimately benefit individual participants, communities, and the cultural infrastructure of our state.”

As a humanities-focused nonprofit re-granting organization, NJCH awards Action Grants from $2,000 to $20,000 to implement or expand programs. Also, NJCH awards Incubation Grants from $1,000 to $5,000 to experiment, research, prototype, and consider new models and topics for public humanities programs. Each dollar invested into communities through the grant program is matched by each partner. Nonprofit organizations interested in learning more about NJCH’s grant program can visit njhumanities.org.